Ten

Well…my “blog every day in May” has quickly turned into “blog every few days in May…when you feel like it.” Oops!  I have to say, people who blog EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. have my utmost respect.  It takes a lot of time, thought, work and commitment to blog every day. I gave it my best effort…I really did.  I know you’re a forgiving bunch…so I’m not too concerned.

Today’s topic for “Blog every day in May” is; Ten things that make you really happy

In no particular order…10 things that make me really happy…

1. Mail.  Specifically…mail for ME!  Unexpected mail from a friend or a family member make me ECSTATIC…mail that I’m expecting and WAITING on pins and needles to arrive…well, that makes me ecstatic, too.

2. Finding a ridiculously GREAT DEAL.  I pride myself on my bargain hunting abilities.  (My husband dies inside when I start a conversation with…”I got the BEST deal today!!”)  Those beauties above…$22.59.  Bought them last summer and wore them for the first time last week.

3. Our friends.  We’re so blessed to have such great friends.  We have a TON of fun together and have made such great memories. Being able to take a vacation with our friends year after year…it’s happiness that I can’t even explain.

4. Returning HOME from an extended time away and getting to sleep in my OWN bed.  Not only does it make me REALLY happy…it puts me in a state of complete euphoria.

5. Being able to workout WITH my husband in the morning.  Unfortunately, we can’t workout together every morning, but I LOVE it when we can.

6. Post workout morning coffee dates with husband.  I mean, let’s be honest…is there anything better?

Yes…yes there is…

7. Surprises.  Mostly I like surprises when they’re for someone else.  Sort of like this last March when my sister, Melissa and I surprised my mom with tickets to see Elton John.

8. Blogs!!  You guys…OBVIOUSLY!!  The one blog that I literally STALK just waiting for a new post?!  Easy.

Her Late Night Cravings

I could watch Jayme and Mendi all day long and twice on Sunday.  Wait…that last sentence didn’t even make sense.  Whatever, my blog…my rules.  Truly.  Love. These. Girls.  In fact, I’ve professed my undying love for Jayme and basically told her we we’re soul sisters…I’m making it my mission to meet her this year.  It’s gonna happen.  Just you wait and see!

9. 75 degree sunshiny days with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze.  Those days are few and far between here in GA…but when we do have them…everything in my life gets put on hold and I park my booty on the back patio with a book and a cocktail.

10. Call me a CHEESE BALL…I don’t care.  This guy brings me more happiness than anything in my life.  Love him to pieces.

Sell yourself

Today’s topic for ‘Blog every day in May‘ is;

Sell yourself in 10 words or less

Pfft…I got this.

Karissa Reck

For.

Sale.

See you tomorrow!!

A moment in my day

A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)

I had REALLY good intentions of taking a photo while I was at the gym this morning with Jason.  In fact, I prefaced my workout with, “I want to get a photo of myself OR of my weights for my blog post.”  Well, both Jason and I got busy and completely wrapped up with our back squats that we both forgot to take a picture.  Figures.  In other news, I set a new ‘personal record’ on my back squat.  125 lbs.  I realize it isn’t a TON of weight, but I’m proud of it.  I intend on working hard in the coming weeks to reach my goal of squatting my body weight.  Shouldn’t take me too long.

Lately I’ve been feeling REALLY out of control with the state of our household.  I feel like no matter how much time and energy I spend on making sure our house is neat and tidy…it’s NEVER neat and tidy!!  Today was no different.  We got home from the gym and I went straight to work on making breakfast for Jason and packing him a lunch for work.  By the time I finished, it looked like a tornado had blown through our kitchen!  Now, I didn’t have to go into the office today and I was very much looking forward to chillin’ on the patio after Jason left for work.  However, with the ridiculous mess I had going in the kitchen, the piles of clothes that needed to be folded and put away, the ironing that needed to be done, toilets that needed cleaning, etc., etc….there wasn’t going to be time for chillin’ on the patio.

Just before I was shoving Jason out the door for work, he said to me, “Now, I want you to take care of something today.  I want you to get outside and spend at least 3 hours on the patio before you do anything else.  The laundry and the dishes will all be there tomorrow when it’s supposed to be a crappy, rainy day.  The sun is shining today and I want you to enjoy it.”

Seriously, I’m married to the sweetest man….EVER!

Of course, I obliged….

Sometimes it’s best to heed the advice of your husband and seize the opportunity of a sunshiny day.

My BEST advice

A piece of advice you have for others.  Anything at all.

Aaaaaaannnnnd….she’s silent.  Ha!  Well, that NEVER happens.  Just ask my husband.  This girl…she has an opinion about everything and hands out UNSOLICITED advice like it’s her J-O-B.  Of course, now that I’m being given the opportunity to share a piece of advice with you AND “pass go” AND “collect $200″….I got nothin’.  Funny how that works, right?

Alright, so while sitting here for the last 15 minutes or so just tapping on the letter keys of my laptop, trying to drum up a piece of advice for you, the most AMAZING idea popped into my head.

Hands down….best advice I can offer you at this moment in time….

Always, always, ALWAYS keep a stick of deodorant in your desk at work.  Always.  Period.

I’ll have you know that this morning was the SECOND TIME in two months that I had to stop off at the drugstore by my office to buy deodorant.

Why?

Because I’m RIDICULOUS and forgot to put it on this morning…AGAIN!

Honestly, WHO does that?!  I mean, what’s more irritating than having to stop and buy a stick of deodorant when you’ve got 900 sticks at home?  Yeah, so maybe I hoard deodorant, too.  And tampons.  Two things you should NEVER be without if you’re a lady.  While I get most of my hoarding tendencies from my dad, I can say for certain my mom ALWAYS has at least 5-7 sticks of deodorant in her medicine cabinet.  She likes variety…and so do I.

So there you have it, kids.  Go swipe on some deodorant.

Fear

Blog every day in May…Day 7; The thing(s) you’re most afraid of.

***********

While today’s topic wasn’t hard for me to answer, it’s tough to write about.

I’m most afraid of losing my husband.

 

I would probably say I’m equally afraid of losing my mom or dad, one of my siblings, a niece or a nephew…it’s terrifying to me.

While this fear is very real to me, I hate to think about it, let alone pour my heart out about it on my blog.  I suppose one could say that thinking/worrying about losing your spouse is a bit morbid.  I would tend to agree.  Besides, what does worrying about the unknown in your life do for you anyway?!  NOTHING!  For sure it’s wasted energy.  That being said, I’ve wasted plenty of my energies and had several moments in time when the thoughts of what my life would look like without Jason have overwhelmed me to the point of weeping.

Even though this fear of mine isn’t the happiest of topics, I feel beyond blessed to be able to say I have such special people in my life that just the thought of losing one of them makes my heart break into pieces.

What I do

I took a day off.  I know you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me. I just know you will.

I was on a SERIOUS roll, though.  Wasn’t I?

Just for kicks and giggles, I’ll leave you with a little hint of what kept me away from blogging yesterday.

Obviously Cinco de Mayo calls for wearing miniature sombrero’s, yo!!  Isn’t it SO cute?!  I think so, too!!

Then there was a new recipe in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

Totally a Pinterest recipe.  Black bean and corn salsa. To. Die. For.  If you like corn, tomatoes, black beans, avocado’s…oh man…you NEED this recipe in your life.  It was light and refreshing…and then we added chips!  Then it was light, refreshing and CRUNCHY!!  Paired with a margarita?!  PERFECTION!!

Speaking of margaritas…I filmed a new episode of “Cooking with Karissa.”  Basically…it’s the bee’s knees.  Just trust me and go watch the video.

So let’s chat.  Today’s “Blog every day in May” series topic is;

If you couldn’t answer with your job, how would you answer the question, ‘what do you do’?

This my friends is simple.

I workout like a BOSS.  I mean, I know it doesn’t show…but that’s on purpose.  I like to keep a little extra ‘junk in my trunk’ if ya know what I mean.  Pretty sure you know what I mean.  Also…I teach a step class every now and again.  That there doesn’t count as a job (even though I DO get paid for it) because I LOVE it and therefore I am NOT cheating by using a J-O-B as part of my answer.

Moving right along along…

I cook, I clean and I travel like it’s my job.  Really.  I do.  Most recently our travels took us back to Thailand.   One of my favorite photos from the trip…

I grocery shop nearly every. single. day.  I’m a professional banana buyer.  Why?  Because no matter how many freaking bananas I buy…we’re ALWAYS out!!  I swear, my husband HAS to be half monkey.

I shop too much, save too little and hoard eyeshadow like it’s going out of style.  I can’t help it…it’s what I do.  I get my hoarding tendencies from my dad.

From time to time I like to “play” in my closet and with my makeup. Allow me to break that down for you…basically what I’m trying to say is I host my very own fashion shows with just myself.  It’s really quite fun.  You should try it.  This is what married women with part-time jobs do.  Well, it’s what this married, part-time working woman does.  Maybe I should only speak for myself.

Obviously I do more than what I shared with you right here, but if I told you EVERYTHING that I did, we’d be here all day!!  Plus, I think that short video gives you a good idea of ‘what I do’ on a daily basis.  Except for it’s not always with tequila…

Peace out, Girl Scouts!!

Disappointments

Today’s installment of “Blog every day in May” asks us to share our favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc.) and why you love it.

I’m not very big on quotes.  I couldn’t tell you why.  I guess I’m just not one of those people.  I tend to hang on to and remember inspirational things that people close to me have said vs. quotes from famous people.  That being said, the first quote that came to my mind was something my mom said to me years ago.

“In life, there are going to be disappointments.”

One thing I know for certain, my mom probably doesn’t even remember sharing those words with me and I’ll remember it for as long as I live.  You see, those words ring in my head when life presents me with some type of disappointment.  Whether it be a situation, a family member, a friend, my husband…remembering that “In life, there are going to be disappointments” truly  helps me to keep perspective and reminds me that I shouldn’t ever expect to never be let down.  Lord knows I’ve dealt out my fair share of disappointments in my lifetime.  I suppose that’s what my mom was getting at.  Helping me to understand and remember that none of us are perfect and regardless of how perfect we’re expecting others to be…in the end…we’re only human.

I certainly have my mom to thank for keeping things real.  Sometimes life is better when lived simply and realistically.

Love you to the moon and back, mom.  xoxo

What makes YOU uncomfortable?

Heeeeeyoooohh!

I’m on a roll!  Three days of posts in a row!

Hey…that kind of rhymed.  I should’ve been a rapper…obvi.

 Today’s topic of conversation is; “Things that make you uncomfortable.”

Love him to death, but friends…sometimes this guy makes me completely and utterly uncomfortable.  Case and point shown above.  I mean, come on you guys…wouldn’t YOU be uncomfortable, too?  The first two photos were taken in a public place.  This guy has ZERO issue with making a total fool of himself regardless of how it makes me feel. For. Real.  Even though I nearly laughed until I peed my pants while all of those photos were being taken…it still made me uncomfortable.

This post is proving to be quite difficult for me.  You see, not all that much makes me uncomfortable.

Oh wait…I just had another uncomfortable situation pop into my head.

While enjoying all that Thailand has to offer, husband and I indulged in quite a few massages.  Not “THOSE” kind of massages…just your basic massages.  You know…a foot massage, Thai massage.  That kind of thing.  Well, one particular afternoon (post sun worshiping) I decided to go for an aloe massage.  I made the mistake of not using enough sunblock and enjoying a little too much sunshine, so a massage WITH aloe seemed like the logical thing to do.  Generally, I tend to be a pretty…private person when it comes to baring my nekkid body to complete stranger.  So, while husband stripped down to his skivvies without issue, I nervously stripped down to my “unders” as well.  Little did I know…my “massage therapist” had a bit of a different idea.  It wasn’t too long after I laid down on that lovely massage table that my “massage therapist” was removing my….GASP….bra!!!  Ugh!  Now, at first it wasn’t THAT big of a deal…I was laying on my front.  Piece of cake.  I talked myself off of the ledge I was standing on and decided to try and enjoy my massage as much as I could.  Then it happened.  The time came to roll over to my front and there was NO WAY this nice lady giving me my massage was gonna let me keep my bra.  That’s not even the worst of it.  Just when I thought I had endured the biggest embarrassment of my life (a stranger seeing my boobies) she started massaging my boobies.  Seriously?!  I had NEVER been so uncomfortable in my entire life.  NEVER.  I was stuck somewhere between feeling completely violated, utterly embarrassed and trying to fight off the biggest belly laugh of my life.  All the while husband is laying next to me enjoying the show.

So there you have it.  About the only thing that makes me uncomfortable is having to bare it all in front of a complete stranger.  I’m just not made for it.  Let alone a complete stranger laying hands on my “goodies.”

If you ever get the opportunity to travel to Thailand…be prepared.  Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad had someone given me fair warning.

Something I am good at…

Here we are…day 2 of this blogging challenge.

Today’s topic; Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at.

Simple.

I am RIDICULOUSLY good at…

Burning bacon.

That bacon right there…perfection.  Most people would probably look at that bacon and call it a total loss.

Not me.

The name of the game here…low and slow.  Husband likes to throw his bacon in the griddle on HIGH and let ‘er rip which generally results in a GIANT grease mess for yours truly to clean up.

That’s not how I do bacon business.  Low and slow for at least 20 – 25 minutes and several turns of the slices make for the PERFECTLY overdone bacon.

Smoke factor is also key.  Don’t be pulling that bacon out of the pan before you see smoke.

If you don’t see smoke, it ain’t done.

You can thank husband for today’s post.  It was mostly his idea.  Which has me a bit concerned.  I mean, I KNOW he likes his bacon limp and soggy vs. my firm and crispy bacon…but it kinda makes me feel like he thinks I’m a bad cook.

Happy bacon cooking, y’all!

250 words (or less)

The story of my life in 250 words (or less)

I was born in Cambridge, Minnesota on March 2, 1980.  Second born of 6 children, I was one of the more challenging kids my parents had…that is, until number 4 and number 6 came along.  I grew up in a pretty strict household, but am forever grateful for the morals and standards that my parents instilled in me. I didn’t have my first boyfriend until age 15, which left me in a whole HEAP of trouble.  You see, in the house I grew up in, boyfriends weren’t allowed until 16.  I graduated high school, decided to skip college, met my husband and bought a house all at the ripe old age of 20.  Growing up, I always thought I’d be the first one of my siblings to have children…and have a lot of them.  I quickly changed my mind about kids when my husband and I started traveling.  I never thought I’d be a world traveler, but I’m blessed to say in the 13 years I’ve been married  I’ve traveled to; The Netherlands, England, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Japan, Singapore and Thailand.  In October 2009 my husband and I made one of the biggest changes of our lives when we left behind everything we had ever known and moved from Minnesota to Georgia…and we haven’t looked back since.  At the age of 33 I can say my life is everything I hoped it would be and more.